Budgebudge
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Budge Budge
West Bengal • India |
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| District(s) | South 24 Parganas |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Population | 75,465 (2001) |
Budge Budge (Bengali বজ বজ) is a city and a municipality in South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India.
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[edit] History
Swami Vivekananda had landed at Budge Budge ferry ghat when he returned from his Chicago visit. The anniversary is still celebrated to this day.
An amazing feature of this small and old town is the large number of Sikhs who live here. There is a history behind it. During the British Raj Sikhs were taken for forced labour to distant lands by ship. The Sikhs in one such ship revolted and managed to escape after a bloody fight and landed in Budge Budge. In memory of the deceased revolutionaries there is a tomb called Kamaghatamaru.
Budge Budge municipality is more than a century old establishment.
[edit] Geography
It is located in the south-western suburbs of Calcutta, on the eastern bank of the River Ganges. Over the past few years Budge Budge has developed considerably in terms of lifestyle and infrastructure. With the ongoing project of construction of 4-lane road the economic progress is expected to fasten.
[edit] Economics
Budge Budge owes much of its importance to the oil storage and jute mills. Being close to Calcutta and on the shores of Hooghly river makes it a strategic location for oil storage and is the biggest oil storage for the metropolis Calcutta with big PSUs like BPCL, IBP, HPCL, IOC having large units there. Jute mills were the biggest employers in the area till they started falling sick. Prominent among them are New Central Jute Mill and Budge Budge Jute Mills. At their height before 1971 these jute mills used to employ thousands of workers (New Central Jute Mills has been said to have employed as many as twenty thousand people) but after the partition of India and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh, supply of raw materials for these jute mills decreased. This, along with failure of trade unions lead to the closing of most of these jute mills.
The Budge Budge thermal power plant set up by CESC in Achipur (named after a Chinese called Achhu saheb by the locals who had established a sugar cane unit there) is a major source of electricity for Kolkata and its suburbs.
[edit] Demographics
As of 2001 India censusGRIndia, Budge Budge had a population of 75,465. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Budge Budge has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 75% and female literacy of 64%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The majority of the population comprises Bengali Hindus belonging to Mahishya caste. Sunni Muslims live in specific areas. Christian families live in Hindu majority localities.
[edit] Education
Apart from the century old schools (P.K. High School, Sarengabad High School, Jagweshwari Paathshaala) several English medium schools (including the St Paul's day school) have sprouted up but the quality of education is not so high and aspiring students have to look forward to establishments in Calcutta.
| Cities and towns in South 24 Parganas district |
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